*head desk*... No, she is *not* a mini Chihuahua!

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I am constantly amazed at the amount of people who have no idea how big a Chi is supposed to be. I ran into some people on our walk tonight who told me that their Chi was 9 pounds. I asked if it was a mix, they said no, a purebred. I told them that was strange since Chis were supposed to be between 2-6 pounds. Oh , no , they looked on the internet and they could be up to 10 pounds I told them to check with the Canadian Kennel Club

On the same walk, another woman asked if Princesse was a mini Chihuahua . Um, no, there is no such thing. Again I informed them that the standard was between 2 and 6 pounds. "Really? I saw one way bigger than her" ( Princesse) *sigh* The really ironic thing is she is actually on the bigger size of the standard at 5.5 pounds

Yep, most people have no idea how big most dogs are supposed to be. It applies to basically any breed but the toy dogs get it pretty bad. Constantly we're asked if Luna is a 'teacup' minpin, but she's not. She's right within standard, actually...

We've not seen any other standard sized minpin outside of shows. All the ones seen day to day are simply huge - like at least 2x Luna's height. Sorta loses the meaning 'miniature' pinscher...

I don't really have a problem with people not breeding for the show ring, but that doesn't mean they have to be cluelessly breeding non-standard dogs.

both of my chis are oversized, foxxy is at 7 and tag is at 8, fox is still perpetually 5 oz overweight, and has been since we got her. She just won't shake her pregnancy fat. tag is about as lean as he should ever be. They're pet quality, and lots of people pick up the pet quality ones, so they don't know. Beverly hills chihuahua and taco bell put up dogs that were vastly out of size and confirmation, and I think people think they're bigger than they actually should be, but there is another subset of people who are breeding those inbred nightmare breeder gimmick "teacups" too.

There is no mini chihuahua.but just like with poms hitting that 2-6 pound range, apple head only, no hydrocephalic disease, is tough. I honestly think that there should be a bigger class of chihuahua because there are gorgeous ones that are deer had like my Foxxy, and ones that are absolutely hadsom though ears are broken down , and they may be larger. They're still chis, just not show ring chis.

Isn't it nice though that more people pick up pet quality chis than show chis? It's not all backyard breeding either.Some people just don't like the look of the applehead chi, and since deer head is a fault in confirmation, people that don't like the show chis can breed the most beatutifol variations of chihuahua and still stay within the breed line.

Like Lilth said, oversized dogs are common in most breeds. I've been asked if Onyx is a miniature German Shepherd, and he's over 70lbs and within the standard for height. But since so many Shepherds are more in the 100lb range, and often quite tall, that's what people are used to seeing. Basically take what Cohen said and replace "Chihuahuas" with "dogs"

I will admit to being partial to the so-called "old fashioned" GSDs for a dog that would primarily be a pet, but it's not a struture very conducive to working for the breed.

I agree it's great that people are going to breeders to pick up pet quality Chis. After all, Princesse originally came from a pet store One of my points, though, was that the first people I talked to couldn't possibly have gone to good breeder or they wouldn't have had to look on the internet and get misinformation It didn't sound like it was a rescue or a re home either

I get the same thing about Honey all the time. People ask if she is a "teacup Pomeranian" and I tell them "No she is bred to standard". Most "Poms" I see are 10-15lbs and I hate to tell you but those are not purebred Pomeranians those are Poms mixed with Spitz. And Honey is actually over weight even though she is 5 lbs but we are working on it.

On the flip side. I know for a fact that Lacey is 110% purebred just badly bred. She belonged to a friend of a friend and remember when she got her as a pup and talked about seeing both the parents and told us how the puppy and parents were AKC registered Chihuahuas. Two years later she no longer wanted Lacey because she "Had no time for her" but I just think she was upset that Lacey was not a purse/pocket dog since she is 8lbs. I got those AKC papers when she gave her to me and she is purebred. She badly bred not to standard.